


Summer Vibes (but I don’t wanna be lonely)

by Ironically_unironic



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: AU, Also we don’t interact with Andi or Buffy for a WHILE, Amber and Cyrus friendship is a hill I will die on, F/F, F/M, Getting Together, I’m living out my fantasies through fictional characters check, M/M, Picnics, Reed doesn’t appear but he’s mentioned a lot, Roadtrips, Slow Burn, Summer Romance, This is me projecting, based off of a playlist, im really bad at tagging, or at least an attempt, redemption arc, tw for unaccepting family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:40:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25507597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ironically_unironic/pseuds/Ironically_unironic
Summary: “All of these flowers, and you’re still the most beautiful sight”Cyrus Goodman, despite being prepared for the most boring summer of his life, finds himself learning more about people he would have never expected, namely the seemingly cold-hearted basketball team captain.
Relationships: Amber & Cyrus Goodman, Amber/Andi Mack, Andi Mack/Original Male Characters, Buffy Driscoll & Cyrus Goodman & Andi Mack, Buffy Driscoll/Marty, Cyrus Goodman/T. J. Kippen, Jonah Beck & Cyrus Goodman
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	1. so let’s do all the stupid shit that young kids do

**Author's Note:**

> Ope. Well I guess I’m trying to write again. I actually have a good feeling about this one so cross my fingers I continue to work on it. I worked on this chapter while my sisters dance class went on for an extra two hours so...
> 
> But yeah anyways this is the first chapter. I hope you stick around so it can actually get interesting, but I figured with more new stuff coming out because of the anniversary of the finale, I should get started now. Enjoy!

Cyrus laid on his bed and stared at the ceiling. The day had been simultaneously the longest and shortest day of summer. It was the day that his three best friends were leaving for several weeks.  
Buffy was heading to a basketball camp. She wasn’t originally planning on going, as she knew everyone on the boys basketball team was going to go, but her team had decided it would be a fun bonding activity and did a few fundraisers to get them all into the all girls session. So as the people from the first session were returning Buffy was packing to leave for 3 weeks to play basket and socialize.  
Cyrus had stopped by Buffy’s house the day before. Andi was there too, and the said their final goodbyes, knowing that by the time they got up the next morning, Buffy would probably have already boarded the bus and hit the road. It wasn’t far away, but departure was early regardless.  
Buffy hadn’t reached out to him. It was understandable, as with a camp with constant activity, there wouldn’t be a lot of time to check her phone. Not that Cyrus had anything to share. He just would’ve liked to hear something from Buffy, something fun she did, how tired she was, whether or not she was there safely.  
Jonah’s leave had been more sudden. It had happened a few days prior, when his grandmother fell gravely ill suddenly. Within a few hours, the small family packed and began the long drive to a little town in Illinois, more than 10 hours away. Jonah didn’t even mention it until about four hours into the drive. Andi had been furious, but Cyrus understood. Andi had her reasons, he had his.  
Jonah had probably reached out to him the most since leaving. Jonah and Cyrus didn’t have the most history, as that award would have to go to Andi, but Cyrus could comfortably say that he was Jonah’s main support system. It wasn’t because Jonah or Cyrus chose for that to be their friendship, but Jonah didn’t like getting help, and Cyrus swore he would always be there for his friend. Jonah had called Cyrus each day. Apparently this was not a trend among the other girls, but it didn’t seem something he should ever try to show off, for the sake of all of his friends.  
Andi was heading off on a road trip with Bex and Bowie. It was something Bowie planned, a throwback trip, stopping at all the restaurants his band had enjoyed when they were still traveling. Andi was excited about it and Cyrus wouldn’t be one to spoil the fun, especially after everything Andi had done to make summer fun this year. In the three weeks of summer that had passed, Cyrus had more fun than all his time at home for previous summers, minus the vacations that lead to some family time that Cyrus would never admit to caring about so much.  
Andi had always been the “planner” of the group. Cyrus confronted her about it once, trying to make sure that she wasn’t just doing this because she felt pressured to. However, Andi did secretly love it, despite never usually saying it so explicitly.  
One thing that particularly stood out was Andi’s Shadyside Craft Festival. Well, it wasn’t hers, but she and a few friends and teachers from SAVA planned it. It was a 2 day event with people selling, buying, and even teaching crafts. The whole group went to support Andi, and so had a few of Andi’s other friends, like Walker, Libby, Amber, and Kai, her ex from SAVA. Cyrus invited his whole family, and saw quite a few familiar faces from school. The girl who always gave out gum next to her locker, the boy who once tried to roller skate through the school. Cyrus even swore he saw the boys basketball team captain, though the name had slipped his mind.  
The girls basketball team had used the opportunity to make some amazing stuff to sell, with loads of help from Andi. Cyrus had taken the opportunity to learn how to make little polymer clay charms, and Andi had introduced them to some of her SAVA friends.  
And now, Cyrus was laying on his bed, trying to find shapes in the poorly painted walls from when he was 7. No text messages. No calls. Just a Spotify playlist and loneliness.

Eventually Cyrus headed downstairs to make a snack or something. Not necessarily because he was hungry, but he was bored, and cooking had become a hobby of his after last summer, when his parents took him to a fancy cooking class. He had a few cans of garbanzo beans and was searching for cumin in the back of his spice cabinet when he heard his phone buzz.  
Cyrus set his stuff down on the counter and checked his phone. Strange. It was Amber. He had never received a text from Amber personally. He had been in a big group chat with her, but for the most part, Amber was Andi’s friend.  
“Hey, I know this is random, but I have something I need to talk to you about. I made a whole bunch of baked goods and such. I can pick you up in 30 minutes. If now’s a bad time, just let me know, but I figured with your squad gone you might need something to do anyway.”  
As many trust issues as Cyrus had, Amber seemingly had changed, and she was right. He did need something to do. So he sent his address, left a note for his parents, and slipped on a pair of shoes and a jacket to stand outside and wait.

Amber’s car was exactly how you would imagine a teenage girl’s car. There was light blue fuzzy dice hanging from her mirror, at least three cup holders with old Starbucks cups, the faint smell of a beachy air freshener.  
“Hey...” Cyrus started.  
“Sorry,” Amber tucked her hair behind her ear. “This is really stressful, and I’m not sure where to start.”  
Cyrus understood. Whatever was going on was clearly bothering her, and despite the fact that she asked to share, Cyrus was going to give her the time she needed.  
He reached out and turned the volume of the radio up. It seemed to be a lot of trashy top 40, but something needed to fill the silence of the car. Eventually the tension fell and the two were singing along to a song that they didn’t know the words to.  
As Amber pulled into a parking lot, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, Cyrus began to worry. This seemed like the type of place his parents would be skeptical of letting him go.  
Amber was getting out of the car and grabbing the massive picnic basket from the backseat. “Hurry up, or you won’t get to see the butterflies,” she exclaimed, bent over trying to grab the lanterns.  
Despite the fact that Cyrus had never spent any time alone with Amber, he began to feel safer. Amber was older than him, and she knew what she was doing.  
So the pair began the trek through the little pathway between the trees when Cyrus came across one of the most breathtaking places he had ever seen.  
The trees were farther apart leaving the sunbeams spiraling towards a creek, with water so clear you could see the little tadpoles. It was surrounded by wildflowers and Amber was absolutely right. There were butterflies everywhere, different colors, shapes, and sizes. The sun beginning to set at this point, leaving everything tinted slightly golden and if Cyrus could live in this moment forever, he would.  
Amber snapped a picture of him. “Sorry,” she giggled. “I always take candids of people’s first time here.”  
Cyrus felt self-conscious, like he always did when people took photos of him. It was why his Instapic account didn’t have any pictures of him on it. But with the beautiful scenery, it’s not like anyone who saw it would be focusing on him.  
Amber began spreading out the picnic blanket she had brought. It was just a solid off-white, with a few little stains from previous users. She began pulling out the strangest collection of foods from her large picnic basket. There was a seemingly homemade loaf of bread,some jam, ritz crackers, some bottled coffee, peanut butter cookies, and four of his favorite, chocolate chocolate chip muffins.  
“You really outdid yourself,” Cyrus smirked. Amber shoved his shoulder, and Cyrus couldn’t help but laugh.  
“Come on,” Amber whined playfully. “I put in so much effort! I even found out your favorite kind of muffin just for this”  
Cyrus sat down in the open spot and grabbed a muffin. “That,” he said, mouth full of muffin, “is greatly appreciated.”  
“Okay so food check,” Amber started, suddenly serious, “Everything is vegan, but the peanut butter cookies and the coffee has tree nuts, nothing is gluten free because I completely forgot about that, but there are some fresh peaches still in the basket, and Teej said he was pretty sure you weren’t gluten free so I thought I was safe, and obviously-“  
“Amber!” Cyrus interrupted. “ It’s fine. Are you okay?”  
She began fiddling with her fingernails. “I’ve had a bad day, and I also have a few things I need to get off of my chest.” She took a deep breath, then continued. “I’ve apologized to Andi for who I used to be countless times. But I don’t think I ever apologized to you, and you were the one who...”  
Silence fell between the two. Cyrus didn’t want to pressure Amber, and he was willing to wait. However, the silence seemed to completely eat at the blonde.  
“I think I like Andi,” she said, barely above a whisper. “And I know that it sounds selfish but I needed to fix our relationship because other than Reed Wagner, you’re the only out kid at school and I need advice about what to do. I’m scared. My dad didn’t take it well when I told him, and what if I ruin all the rest of my relationships? Cyrus what do I do?” She sounded desperate and there were tears running down her face.  
“I’m afraid I can’t force people to accept you, but I’m willing to do what I can to try. And most of all, know that you will always be accepted by me. Nothing has changed.” Amber’s eyes were still puffy with tears. “Do you want a hug?”  
Cyrus loved hugs. It could mean anything, and it felt good to have someone’s arms wrapped around him. He felt secure and he loved knowing that others felt the same.

Suddenly, twigs could be heard snapping in the distance. Amber slowly got up, as not to scare what ever may have been lurking in the trees. She started toward the sound.  
Cyrus stayed where he was. It wasn’t too strange to see coyotes or foxes at this point in the year. Besides, even if it wasn’t dangerous, Amber was still probably better equipped for that interaction.  
But then Cyrus heard voices. It sounded like 90% of the boys at the school, so the other voice wasn’t totally recognizable, but Amber and this other figure were definitely fighting.  
“You can’t leave me with him alone!”  
“You literally left me all day, don’t complain”  
“You have a car!”  
“And Dad doesn’t know about you so I guess we’re even!”  
Oh. If Cyrus thought about it he probably would have figured out things he wasn’t supposed to know, but he was too occupied trying to figure out who Amber was talking to. Her friend? Maybe a brother.  
The pair rounded the corner. “Sorry my brother is crashing the party”  
Cyrus looked up to meet the eyes of none other than the all too familiar, T.J. Kippen.


	2. maybe i’m not all that you thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If there was anything you could know from meeting Cyrus, it was that despite all of his fears, he would eventually stand up for what he knew was right.
> 
> If there was anything you could know from meeting the GHS boys basketball team, they were the ones he was standing up to.
> 
> Or what happened, and why does it make Cyrus so uneasy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ope. It’s been a hot minute since I updated this. I swear I’ll try to do better. These past few weeks have been bad for my mental health. Like, relive my entire 1D phase in two weeks bad. So I apologize for the wait for anyone who wanted to read more. I have a really good idea for this story so I think I’ll finish it eventually, but motivation is not my strongest skill. I wanted this chapter to have a few parallels to the original storyline, and I’ve dropped in an OC because I can’t think of a different character to put in that place. Enjoy!

If there was anything you could know from meeting Cyrus, it was that despite all of his fears, he would eventually stand up for what he knew was right.

If there was anything you could know from meeting the GHS boys basketball team, they were the ones he was standing up to.

Cyrus first interacted with the boys basketball team way back in middle school. It probably wouldn’t be considered an interaction the other way around, but even Cyrus, who instinctively saw the good in people, had a bad taste in his mouth after it.  
Being athletic had always been important in Shadyside. It was a suburban town, so everyone had money, so being the best at sports had always been the thing that brought on popularity.  
Cyrus didn’t see anything wrong with being popular but sometimes, the entitlement of the male population of school jocks just didn’t sit right with him.  
The day had gone normally. Buffy had successfully become captain of the girls basketball team, a new addition to the school as of a few years before. Andi had been trying to mend her relationship with Jonah. And he, Cyrus Goodman, was trying to get a chocolate chocolate chip muffin.   
It seemed like such a stupid goal at first but after some consideration, maybe he wasn’t so anxious. He wasn’t the only one afraid to cut in line. He might have been the most heartbroken by not getting a muffin, but he had grown to accept it. So every day, he tried to get out of class early so he could be close to the front of the line.  
And that fateful day he had been incredibly close. There were only a few people in front of him, and there were still 4 muffins left.  
Then 3 kids from the boys basketball team showed up. Cyrus couldn’t remember names well, but when he asked Buffy later, she said the kids were Brandon, Chase, and T.J. They grabbed 3. Cyrus was so close when one of the boys threw a muffin and it hit the ground.  
“Call themselves basketball players,” Buffy snorted. But Cyrus was distracted, as the tallest boy stepped on the muffin on the ground right in front of him and grabbed the final muffin.  
After that, Cyrus stopped trying to get muffins.  
But now, in front of him, stood said boy, staring directly into his eyes. 

“Hello!” Amber shouted. “Are you two going to stop looking at each other like you dated 4 years ago and than never spoke again?”  
“What weird fan fiction are you reading now?” T.J. teased with a glint in his eyes that looked like a mix of fear and hope. Cyrus shook himself from his trance. Dating? What?  
Cyrus brushed it off. “Hey, where should I put this?” He nodded at the muffin wrapper still in his hand.

Since middle school, Cyrus had only interacted with anyone on the boys basketball team once again, again with none other than T.J. Kippen. The story began with Buffy’s big announcement about a month into freshman year.  
“Guess who’s stuck doing tutoring for community service?” Sarcasm dripped from her mock excitement as she plopped into the booth at the Spoon.  
Buffy had been looking for community service opportunities since the beginning of the year. Girls basketball season was second semester, and getting mandatory community service hours was hard to do when there was practice for a few hours after school every day. Buffy had planned to get all of her hours before winter break. However, this didn’t seem like the kind of thing she would volunteer to do.  
“Who is it?” Andi asked, stealing a few of Cyrus’ baby taters.  
“T.J. Kippen,” Buffy groaned. “People constantly tell me he’s the worst, especially if you compete with him. His old tutor, I think his name was Eric, moved away, so he needs a new one. Mr Brand asked me to do it and said it would count for hours.”  
“Good luck,” Andi laughed. “Amber tells me he’s always been awful to all of his tutors, except for Eric, and that it took quite a bit of patience to get to even that point.”  
Eventually, Cyrus stopped caring, his memory only reminding him when Buffy was unavailable after school on Thursdays.   
Until one Friday, when Buffy had a sudden schedule change. He had an awkward interaction with his crush at the time, Jonah Beck, then ran face first into Mrs. Collins, spilling all her stuff all over the ground. He had been told to wait outside the classroom, but all self-preserving thoughts left his mind as he yanked the door open.  
And then tripped over a massive backpack in the doorway.   
Into a room where a pair of pissed off basketball players were mid-argument.  
The room fell dead silent as Cyrus slowly stood back up.  
“Guess that’s my cue to leave,” the taller boy sighed, staring Cyrus directly in the eyes as he grabbed his backpack and strutted out the door.   
By the time Buffy and Cyrus walked out of classroom, the rest of the school was silent, and Cyrus couldn’t help but feel he had offset fate that day.

The sun had almost completely set as the trio finished their somewhat uncomfortable picnic. Clouds were rolling in quickly, and the sky was beginning to darken. The massive clouds had beautiful lilac edges, but at this rate, it would be pitch dark in the next ten minutes, and Amber and TJ were too engaged in conversation to acknowledge the storm clouds rolling in.  
He found himself folding up the little wildflower ends, making a flower chain, with lots of shades of pink and purple and yellow. He wasn’t even paying attention. His mind was wandering everywhere and nowhere until suddenly he was knocked out of his trance by a large hand on his shoulder.  
“Dude, are you there? T.J. asked barely above a whisper. Everything had been packed up and Amber was gone. Was he about to get beat up?  
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to-“  
“You’re fine, I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” T.J. grabbed the basket and stood up, brushing dirt and crumbs off of his pants.  
Cyrus felt a drop of rain on his forehead. There was nothing more midwestern than the heat of the morning to the sudden, very likely, thunderstorm about to start.  
“Where did Amber go?”  
“She’s bringing the car closer so we don’t risk getting stuck on the bridge that always floods.”  
So now he was completely alone with T.J. Kippen. What could possibly go wrong?  
He looked down into his lap. His flower chain had gotten pretty long. He slowly wrapped it around a big rock that sat next to the creek.  
“How do you do that?” TJ asks as he started back down the path.  
“The flower chains?” When TJ nods Cyrus continues. “I learned a few years ago. Andi taught me. It’s kinda hard to explain.”  
“Guess you’ll have to show me sometime,” T.J. smirked.  
The rain was falling faster, and Cyrus’ shirt was beginning to soak through. It was cold and the dirt path had become a mud path.  
“Come on, I’ll show you a shortcut,” TJ grabbed his arm and pulled him off of the path through a narrow walkway into one of the most tranquil places he had ever seen. It was a somewhat steep hill that lead down into what seemed like an odd forest, grass uneven and scattered with weeds but somehow still such a vibrant green, even in the dark. The trees were few, but tall, and the branches seemed to stretch for miles. Under the trees, the rain came down in a combination of heavy drops and mist and everything was just so fresh.  
“Come on!” TJ, who was already at the bottom of the hill, shouted.  
Cyrus carefully walked down the hill, being sure to walk in a diagonal line to avoid tripping.  
“I can’t believe you just walked down that hill,” T.J. laughed. “I don’t think we can be friends”  
Friends. How strange. If had told Cyrus two years ago he would be having this conversation with any male basketball player, let alone T.J. Kippen, he would probably laugh it off as a joke.   
“I would inevitably trip and then slide down this hill and hit something face first.”  
“I bet you wouldn’t,” T.J. bumped against Cyrus’ shoulder.  
The rest of the walk to the playground that Amber was at was quiet. Not awkward, but not necessarily the kind of silence friends shared. Cyrus was admiring everything, from the branches on the ground to the smashed acorn that a squirrel must have brought over before it was raining. He could have sworn he heard an owl and at that point, the playground was in sight.  
“Playgrounds without children at them are creepy” T.J. grimaced.   
“I can’t believe you just said that,” Cyrus laughed. “I don’t think we can be friends”

When Cyrus got home for the night, he immediately went to his room. Amber had made so many snacks that he wasn’t really hungry to eat a dinner, and it was cold anyway.   
As he flopped onto his bed, his phone began buzzing. It was Buffy.   
“Hey!” he whisper-shouted, trying not to wake his parents if they were asleep.  
“I’m so glad I can finally call you!” Buffy’s voice was rough, probably due to bad service. “Everyone on our bus got our phones taken away this morning, and they only just now gave them back. I tried to call Andi, but she’s probably somewhere without service because she didn’t answer.”  
So Buffy told him about her whole camp experience. She told him about the other girl that was added to her team. She told him about the girl she was sharing a room with, who seemed to share a lot of interests with her. She talked about the team she thought was going to be her greatest competition.  
“And most excitingly, we get to talk to some professional coaches and players next week, which is going to be so awesome, especially for the newer girls.”  
“That’s cool.” Cyrus liked it when his friends were passionate about things.  
“Well, what have you done today?” Buffy asked.  
This stopped Cyrus. Buffy knew T.J. was the type of person Cyrus rarely hung out with. But regardless, he told the story, minus Amber coming out, from beginning to end.  
“Wow.” Buffy said. “What could have possibly made T.J. act so nice to you?”  
Ouch. “I mean he was still weird, but especially after the last time-“  
“Wait you’ve talked to him before?”  
“No, it was back in freshman year. When I walked in on you fighting.”  
“Oh.”  
Cyrus hesitated. Back when that happened, he had wondered what he had walked in on. It had seemed like a secret had been revealed.   
“Did T.J. have a crush on you?” The words escaped his lips before he could think through the question.  
Buffy started laughing hysterically. “Absolutely not. I can tell you that for sure.”  
“What did I walk in on that day then?”  
Buffy’s line went dead silent. For a brief moment, Cyrus thought she had hung up.  
“Remember the day everyone was talking about how T.J. had a learning disability?”  
“Yeah.” Cyrus had a feeling he knew what was coming.  
“I was the one who told everyone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. I promise, that will get an explanation soon. While I never would share a secret like that just for gossip, the storyline will be fixed eventually. In my eyes that seemed pretty realistic to what would happen without T.J. and Cyrus being friends first.  
> Preview for Chapter 3:  
> Buffy’s words rang in Cyrus’ head. Why would she do that? There had to be a good reason. Right?  
> His phone buzzed. It was an unknown number.   
> “hey this is tj, amber gave me your number. just wanted to know if you wanted to come hang out with me and some of my friends tomorrow. if you can’t it’s fine, just thought i’d ask.”  
> Now if Cyrus was being honest with himself, he would rather be doing almost anything else, but at this rate he wouldn’t be doing anything anyway. Besides, he needed to hear T.J.’s side of the story

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so that wasn’t that good, but if you did like it, let me know!
> 
> Preview for Chapter 2: If there was anything you could know from meeting Cyrus, it was that despite all of his fears, he would eventually stand up for what he knew was right.  
> If there was anything you could know from meeting the GHS boys basketball team, they were the ones he was standing up to.


End file.
